Dream Contractor

Well it's fall and I am now home full time, preparing for the birth my first child, so I think it's high time for me to get my post back on. The good news is that while I haven't been posting much, I certainly have plenty of content to catch up with. 

Now that I have a sweet new iphone, taking pics of my projects has never been easier. I have been diligently organizing them while doing very exciting things, like, waiting for new tires to be put on my husband's car.

I have been getting into a new show, called Property Brothers on HGTV.

 I didn't used to like it but it has grown on me, especially since the newer episodes are filmed in Austin TX, a place I might move to one day and where home prices aren't outrageous like where I live in Boston or in Toronto where the show originally aired. The reasons I didn't like it at first are:

A. The people on it are so darn obnoxious about getting their "dream home" and so unwilling to compromise. Since when do people "deserve" a dream home? They expect everything to just fall in their lap for cheap. My friend's grandparents got married with one table to their name. And they have been married for 60 years.

B.  These people have pretty large budgets compared to the national average going into the process. The reason they can't have their "dream home" isn't financial, it's 'cus they want to live in the heart of the city and have enough room for a kitchen island and multiple ovens. If I had a budget that big and wanted to live in the city, I'd just get us an apartment and hire a private chef, it would be cheaper and way less hassle.

Now I understand the premise of the show- that if they buy a fixer upper for cheaper, they can renovate the home, get everything they want and still stay within their budget. It's a great way to go- given the right neighborhood.  Now when I thought about it I was like, yeah that can be a good investment, given the right factors. So I still watch it, even though some of the people on there still irritate me.

Here's the big thing, though.  Jonathan, the contractor brother of the two "property brothers", is a very unusual being.

First, he plans a sweet three D computerized redesign with cool slide transitions, which is the only way he can convince them to even consider the house-which at first sight smells like poop and is generally pretty gross. Most contractors I have met maybe use an email address.

Then, he does the general contracting for the whole house, works on the house day and night, oh and also buys all the furniture, picks out all the lighting, linens on the bed, AND does it all in 4 weeks.

This show should be called "Dream Contractor". It's hard enough to get contractors to call you back, let alone design your entire house top to bottom and shop at the vintage chandelier store to get your perfect chandelier. And where are those cool stores anyways??? 

So, all this to say, unless you can get on that show, in the land of Real Life Home Ownership, you have to make a lot of decisions day to day about what you will invest in now, what you will wait on, what you will spend on decor, what you will need to pay for maintenance. You don't get to spend 75,000 all at once, you have to spend money over time. Not everything you do is guaranteed to pay off, so you have to make smart decisions. 

In our home, we have to be careful how much money we put into renovations as this house will never be worth more than a certain amount given it's location on a main road. Even if we do renovate, we can't spend top dollar on materials. 

So my advice to you all is, enjoy watching the dream contractor on TV, but be sure to make smart decisions about your home.  Know what your home is worth and do your research before you go gung-ho on a major expensive project. 

Decide if you are doing it for yourself and your quality of life, or as an investment you'd like to see a return on.

If you are looking into buying a fixer upper, make sure you know or are married to a dream contractor!